Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[GabrielGABFonseca]

In the current era, Farseers and their equipment are specialized for detecting the presence, location, and condition of remote minds. They are not specialized for receiving distant telepathic signals, and so do not make for good FTL radios. It is possible to send amplified messages that a Farseer can receive at distance, but this presents the same problem as above; it's dangerous to other Loroi near to the sender (not to mention the sender herself).

This actually presents us with an interesting hypothetical scenario. Picture this:

Humanity sides up with the Loroi. Their deafness to Sanzai allows them to be near a Farseer screaming an FTL message to another Farseer in another system without any harmful effects. Each ship of the human fleet is quickly retrofitted with Loroi technology and assigned a Farseer. The Loroi now have at their disposition a task force of FTL-Comms equipped ships crewed by competent hands, a significant strategical/tactical asset to employ against the Umiak.

That's quite a bargain we have to offer to the Loroi, eh?

[Absalom]

The concept of Humanity in the Union is filled with corner-cases where the human lack of telepathy becomes in some way a highly specialized boon to the telepaths themselves.

[Siber]

@GabrielGABFonseca: I'm pretty sure this burns out the screamer, too, both from some comments of Arioch elsewhere and by means of the analogy of long-distance shouting. If by some device or magic you could shout loudly enough to be heard a thousand miles away, would you survive the experience? Without some additional protections, I would think not, and since there's no known way to shield against psionics... Of course, you could imagine a system where the sender is immune to their sending, but I suspect that's not the case here, at least not at the kind of power we're talking about.

Even if you didn't need anyone special to achieve that feat, killing someone every time you send a message is a pretty high price, and probably pretty rough on morale if it gets out. And I bet someone capable of sending those messages even with a great amp would be at least a little special.

[harlequin2262]

The concept of Humanity in the Union is filled with corner-cases where the human lack of telepathy becomes in some way a highly specialized boon to the telepaths themselves.

Particualrly with Fireblade, the more I think about it. She can speak aloud, because she knows that Alex (from first hand experience) is a telepathic null and no threat to her. And, indeed, he will not be disturbed by her, as not only can he empathise with her situation, he's also utterly deaf to her sanzai transmitted PTSD nightmares, unlike most Loroi. IIRC, Arioch even mentioned that she's given a wide berth when sleeping by other Loroi as a result of them.

[cacambo43]

The concept of Humanity in the Union is filled with corner-cases where the human lack of telepathy becomes in some way a highly specialized boon to the telepaths themselves.

Particualrly with Fireblade, the more I think about it. She can speak aloud, because she knows that Alex (from first hand experience) is a telepathic null and no threat to her. And, indeed, he will not be disturbed by her, as not only can he empathise with her situation, he's also utterly deaf to her sanzai transmitted PTSD nightmares, unlike most Loroi. IIRC, Arioch even mentioned that she's given a wide berth when sleeping by other Loroi as a result of them.

I would like to see a friendship between the two of them, even if it's one that involves them glaring at each other now and then.

CJSF

[Jayngfet]

When one works with complex systems, a "null" will invariably have value, simply because blank space that you can actually orient something around(as opposed to a formless void or a more obvious value with more weight) will invariably come in handy. You see this a lot in digital animation and computer effects, where in order to get an object to move properly you need to assign it to a point that's visually empty, but can be recognized by the system as having a fixed point. The concept exists in programming, mathematics, you name it.

The actual applications of having a psychic value of zero attached to an individual(as opposed to something that would register, or empty space) would probably be rather convenient once you actually break it down as someone who knows the ins and outs of how it works. The fact is that Alex being undetected, and earth as a whole as well, raises a whole lot of questions that aren't important to the story.

[Dorfington]

I was gonna post this in the WIP thread as a follow up to my response to you, but then I thought it'd probably be more appropriate here.

What swear words do the Loroi use?

Do ours translate well into the language, or does Loroi trade have unique expletives?

An odd question I know, but I promise that this is purely for science. You understand don't you Arioch? For science?

[Arioch]

What swear words do the Loroi use?
Do ours translate well into the language, or does Loroi trade have unique expletives?

Loroi Trade is relatively formal, and the Loroi aren't really a verbal cultural, so they don't usually make verbal exclamations or oaths/curses, and the rudeness or insulting quality of a word is implicit in its meaning; for the most part they don't have special "rude" synonyms. Most rudeness is done telepathically (so you can be sure they know you mean it), which is very literal. However, since it is a little bit extra rude to speak to someone who's right in front of you, a verbal string of insults can sometimes achieve that extra notch of rudeness.

Most literal insults that we use would be recognizable as insults to the Loroi: calling into question someone's abilities, intelligence, appearance, cleanliness, behavior, integrity, courage, loyalty, duty, or especially honesty; comparing them to animals or anything unflattering, scatological references, etc. Exaggeration should be carefully phrased: statements like "you are a pig" or "you are an anus" or "you are as dumb as a rock" are clearly false; but "you eat like a pig" or "your mouth works like an anus" (e.g. nothing but shit comes out of it) or "you aren't much smarter than a rock" would be considered acceptable insults.

To call someone or something "bloody" is essentially to say that it is cursed (destined to be covered in blood).

Insults that would not land particularly well with Loroi would include references to hell or damnation (which most Loroi don't believe in), and most sex references (Loroi don't consider the sex act aggressive or shameful or violating and so "fuck" has little impact; comparing someone to the female genitalia has about as much impact as comparing someone to an elbow; comparing someone to the male genitalia is roughly equivalent to calling someone a "busy bee", and not particularly insulting).

[Dorfington]

How exactly is the plural of a noun denoted?

On the lexicon you (singular) is listed as "lozen" whilst you (plural) is listed as "lozener".

Is the "er" the plural? Would the plural of "lenzano" (bubble) be "lenzanoer"? (bubbles) or "lenzaner"?

[CF2]

Are there particular themes that as a result of culture strike the Loroi sense of humor particularly well, or especially poorly?
Alex's remark about "thinking out loud", seemed quite amusing to Beryl, so juxtaposition and contrast apparently work as themes. Would slapstick, or misunderstanding, or Pinky & the Brain intelligence humor go over well?

Is it possible to bring a Loroi to tears with humor, or cause them to lose their breath laughing? If so, is it at all problematic to tell jokes telepathically where it can be unintentionally crack up people working on tasks that require concentration or finesse? Are there customs to when humor may be shared?

[Dorfington]

If I remember correctly, slapstick and absurdist humor would translate rather well with Loroi. An example that has already been provided would be the "ministry of silly walks" sketch from Monty python.

The reasoning behind this that Arioch has stated (I think it was Arioch) is that the more rigid and strict a society is, the more that society's humor will be outrageous and silly.

Supposedly.

[Hālian]

How exactly is the plural of a noun denoted?

On the lexicon you (singular) is listed as "lozen" whilst you (plural) is listed as "lozener".

Is the "er" the plural? Would the plural of "lenzano" (bubble) be "lenzanoer"? (bubbles) or "lenzaner"?

If I recall correctly, all non-pro nouns in Loroi Trade are invariant, i.e. the plural is the same as the singular. But don't quote me on that.

[Arioch]

How exactly is the plural of a noun denoted?

On the lexicon you (singular) is listed as "lozen" whilst you (plural) is listed as "lozener".

Trade nouns have no plural forms. One samurai, two samurai. One teidar, two teidar.

Are there particular themes that as a result of culture strike the Loroi sense of humor particularly well, or especially poorly?
Alex's remark about "thinking out loud", seemed quite amusing to Beryl, so juxtaposition and contrast apparently work as themes. Would slapstick, or misunderstanding, or Pinky & the Brain intelligence humor go over well?

I think physical humor translates well to any culture than understand humor at all (and not all do). Absurdist and ironic humor probably work well, up to the point past which the literal Loroi may start to get confused. Misunderstanding humor probably doesn't work well in a telepathic mode where misunderstanding is unlikely.

Is it possible to bring a Loroi to tears with humor, or cause them to lose their breath laughing? If so, is it at all problematic to tell jokes telepathically where it can be unintentionally crack up people working on tasks that require concentration or finesse? Are there customs to when humor may be shared?

I think the more dire your situation, the more humor (even fairly dark humor) becomes a necessity. The Loroi have been in a pretty dire situation for some time, so their appreciate for humor is pretty strong. I can easily imagine serious situations in which Loroi have a hard time not be cracked up (analogous to the "giggling in church" situation), but I think once your life is in danger most things stop being funny. At least to the point where you can't function.

[Gorbash]

I think once your life is in danger most things stop being funny. At least to the point where you can't function.

Do they still have the same post-stress reaction humans do (such as suddenly bursting into intense, uncontrollable laughter after an extremely stressful or nearly-deadly situation)? That's got to have some weird effects with telepathy.

Do the Loroi ever delve into cybernetics and bio-engineering for their soldiers, or is that kind of frowned upon because of the association with the Umiak?

[Jayngfet]

Random question, but is there a plan, explicit or implicit, for the millions to billions of military caste born during this war and because of it when and if the Loroi actually WIN? Having multitudes of bored soldiers and decommissioned ships seems like a recipe for disaster.

[dragoongfa]

The ships won't be decommissioned nor will the warriors be with empty hands should the Loroi win; simply put someone will have to put and keep a leash on the former Hierarchy territories should the Loroi win. Plenty of species that were either reluctantly compliant to the Umiak or were fully subjugated; plenty of manpower will be needed in order to keep everyone in line.
The real question is how the Loroi as a society go through the mental shock and societal trauma that the war caused, this was a truly barbaric war with a lot of blood shed. The young warriors born to just fight the war may be a significant portion or even the outright majority in certain warrior castes and they don't have a lot in common with the older generations that still survive.

[Arioch]

Do they still have the same post-stress reaction humans do (such as suddenly bursting into intense, uncontrollable laughter after an extremely stressful or nearly-deadly situation)? That's got to have some weird effects with telepathy.

There will be some exploration in the narrative about the psychological impact of the war on the Loroi.

As an aside, although I've seen it occasionally portrayed in fiction, I don't think I've heard of or read any real accounts of people descending into hysterical laughter after traumatic situations. So I'm not sure that's really a normal human reaction.

Do the Loroi ever delve into cybernetics and bio-engineering for their soldiers, or is that kind of frowned upon because of the association with the Umiak?

The Loroi use cybernetic implants for a few specialized purposes (you could say that psi amplifiers are a form of cybernetic implant), but in general they do not see any benefit to large scale use among soldiers. The Loroi are content to use armored vehicle or self-propelled robot heavy weapons for roles that the Umiak would assign to armored cybernetic hardtroops.

Random question, but is there a plan, explicit or implicit, for the millions to billions of military caste born during this war and because of it when and if the Loroi actually WIN? Having multitudes of bored soldiers and decommissioned ships seems like a recipe for disaster.

Loroi society is military-focused and usually supports a very large active-duty military force even in peacetime. They have a great deal of experience with keeping idle soldiers occupied with a rigorous regimen of training and frequent exercises. If the war were to end tomorrow, I doubt they would begin decommissioning ships any time soon.

[entity2636]

Random question, but is there a plan, explicit or implicit, for the millions to billions of military caste born during this war and because of it when and if the Loroi actually WIN? Having multitudes of bored soldiers and decommissioned ships seems like a recipe for disaster.

Some people might disagree, but seeing how much the Loroi love their wars, if they were to actually win this one, I doubt there will be much idling for their troops. They will probably either go glassing all Umiak "allies", start infighting, or stumble into some other aliens whom to fight.

Personally, I very much like the comic and can't wait for the next pages, but wish that the Loroi loose this war

[Gorbash]

As an aside, although I've seen it occasionally portrayed in fiction, I don't think I've heard of or read any real accounts of people descending into hysterical laughter after traumatic situations. So I'm not sure that's really a normal human reaction.

Hmm. Fair argument. I'd counter with my own experiences (after very narrowly avoiding a highway car crash), but that's anecdotal evidence, and I'm not really finding any literature that backs me up.

Personally, I very much like the comic and can't wait for the next pages, but wish that the Loroi loose this war

That sounds an awful lot like you're looking forward to the Umiak glassing a lot of planets from orbit.

[entity2636]

Personally, I very much like the comic and can't wait for the next pages, but wish that the Loroi loose this war

That sounds an awful lot like you're looking forward to the Umiak glassing a lot of planets from orbit.

Well, maybe yes and maybe not. The war could also go very south very fast and our four heroes could end up stranded deep behind enemy lines, or some other twist of fate kind of deal, fitting to the name of the series. But I'm sure Arioch has quite the story planned already.